I have had two CFLs burn out on me in the last week. We have lived in our home less than four years and installed them ourselves 1-3 years ago. I had been under the impression CFLs lasted much longer, which justified the expense. Now I'm wondering.
Are your CFLs dying faster than expected? Solutions? Suggestions?
P.S. most of them are expensive brands and they are burning out faster than the incandescent bulbs in the SAME fixture.
We don't like them either.
1. Very expensive
2. Don't last that much longer (if at all)
3. Hazard to dispose of
We won't be buying them again. I think the hype about these bulbs came from the global warming folks with short sightedness. They may last longer, but overall, they do more damage to the environment.
We have had this very same thing happen every time we try to use CFLs. It is hard to justify the expense when you have to buy them twice as often.
They say it can be how offen the light is turned off and on...
I had some that blew after a few weeks... and some still Going strong.....
as with all things you buy... Depends on who made them what shift and did the quality control catch faulty ones....
I got my bulbs at Sam's They are ok.. most lasting a long while...
I know some can give headaches for some kids, and the sound they make so I dont put them in my son's room.. HE has Sensory Processing Disorder and Autism.. I just dont want them in his bed room at all!!!!
Hi S.,
The same exact thing happened to us. Do you still have the box that your CFL's came in? Maybe you have a few extras? Basically what you have to do is call the company that manufactured your CFL's. Our was Commercial Electric who made our bulbs. There may even be an 800 phone number listed on your bulbs. Anyway - just call the company that made the bulbs, and tell them that they burned out on you and they should send new ones out to you for free. It's really that easy.
I commend you for taking the time to install CFL's! Saving energy will only benefit our little ones - so thank you for helping to conserve energy and helping to save our planet! Every little thing counts. Our kids will thank us.
Have a great week and enjoy the weather!
M.
Some CFLs are guaranteed to last. You have to keep track though. You are supposed to save money in the long run because they use less energy. CFLs are supposed to last 15000 hours where as regular light bulbs are supposed to last 1000 hours.
We've bought some several years ago and haven't had one burn out on us yet. We bought them at Walmart (GE). We use them in the living room, upstairs lamps, closet, kitchen and dining room fan. I don't like how it looks in the fan, but haven't had any of them burn out. We haven't done a complete conversion. We switch them out with regular when a regular one dies. So we don't waste the money we spent on the ones we have and it's not as expensive to buy one or two pkgs of the CFLs at a time.
Here is a link to energy star that explains what type of bulb is best in what kind of fixture and how and why CFLs work better over regular.
Same here. They don't last dramatically longer, and the disposal issue, or heaven forbid one breaks in your home, is rather a pain for the little savings I might see. If I need a haz/mat document to tell me what to do if one breaks in my home (there is an entire document you can find online on handling a broken CFL) I'm less apt to buy them over traditional bulbs.
The savings from CFL bulbs aren't from their longevity compared to regular bulbs, but from the fact that they use a fraction of the energy. If you're putting the bulb in a room that has the lights turned on most nights, it will pay for itself within a year. And these days you can find them on sale for about $1/bulb. Well worth it, even if you replace it every year.
over the years we have found some brands die quicker then others. IKEA's seem to really die quick for instance.
When we first converted every light in our house our electric bill instantly went down $20 a month. Worth it to me!! You may not notice one or two bulbs, but if you do every bulb you will notice.
For the person that mentioned the ceiling fan - we found some that are ok for ceiling fans - they are able to be dimmed and can withstand the motion. I am sorry I don't remember where my husband got them, but they do make them!
They also make some that are in the shape of globe lights in the bathroom. We like our LED lights in there though. And our solatube in the one bathroom without windows (kinda like a sky light, but a round tube that collects sunlight so it's brighter then a skylight would be).
I am having my doubts about their efficacy. I bought a bunch of Phillips and had many burn out within one to two years, so I bought GE and my hubby was complaining that one of the GEs burned out. I took the others back to Menards and the clerk told me they are receiving a lot of complaints. Sorry, but I think they are rip offs.
I've also had the experience that the CFLs don't last the 5-7 years as promised. I don't know why it is. I've also purchased more expensive brands, with no significant improvement. Some of the packaging offers a guarantee, and I keep thinking I should mark down the date of installation and save the packaging for a refund if they don't last, but I never do:) I try very hard to be "green", but I agree that CFLs underperform. Having said that, I do still try to use them. Agree with another poster that I alternate them with regular bulbs in our bathroom fixture because it takes too long to light up the room if all bulbs are CFLs, and I want my little ones to be able to see what they are doing.
I put two CFLs in my bathroom, and found out they take a little while to warm up. So I put in one CFL and one regular bulb so when you flip on the switch you get instant light and then the other one slowly warms up.
The CFL burned out WAY BEFORE the regular bulb! In both bathrooms!
Plus you can't throw them in the regular garbage because of the mercury and I keep forgetting to take them to the hardware store so I can dispose of them properly.
I haven't found them worth the extra money. Maybe the electric bill is cheaper, but I haven't noticed any significant change.
Compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL"s) do last longer than the standard incandescent bulbs. Typically you are talking at least 10,000 lamp hours with some lasting as long as 20,000 hours. However, that being said, you do need to buy good bulbs to begin with. Stay away from the off brand, off shore type. Buy GE, Philips or Sylvania to make certain you are getting what you pay for.
Keep in mind too that fluorescent bulbs are designed for long run times and not designed to be turned on and off multiple times in a short time period. They have a ballast that causes the bulb to "turn on". The more you turn them on and off the more you shorten ballast life and hence lamp life.
If you are using the CFL's in a lamp that you typically leave on for several hours at a time you should experience close to expected bulb life. They are not designed for a lamp that you switch on and off numerous times a day. In that case an incandescent is still the best way to go.
I have found the cheaper brands burn out faster. Also, when placing in a spot with lots of moisture, like a bathroom, they burn out faster. I have them in the basement and our outside lights as well as the closets. So far, only one has burnt out--the cheaper brand. I am sticking with GE. I heard that they are not very good in ceiling fans though not sure if it is because the movement or because they look awful sticking out as they do. I keep a box on a shelf in the basement and when I go to the store, I take them with.
We used them one time in a light and they burned out so much faster then the regular light bulbs. I had then heard about the mercury in these bulbs and how you have to be extremely careful if they were to break - especially with children in the house. Personally, we are not using those in our home.
Wow - I am shocked to hear all of the bad stories. I have been using CFLs for years and have only had 1 out of about 10 or 12 burn our prematurely. I buy mine at Home Depot - mine are GE and nVision. I do have them in ceiling fans and they are working fine - and have worked fine for years. The one bad experience I had was with one that was supposed to be three way i.e. a three-level lightbulb - it didn't really work right, but the light is still good. I have never had one break - I find they are not as delicate as the old lightbulbs which would break fairly easily. Also, you can find them in different sizes so they do not have to stick out of a ceiling fan light. Plus, they have gotten really cheap - if you buy them in a four or six pack at Home Depot, they're maybe $1 each.
